The Merpeople of Black Lake
by theoliverules
Summary: In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, one of the tasks was to venture into the Black Lake and face the creatures from below. Have you ever wondered what kind of life the merpeople lived? Were they really such scary creatures or were they just unfortunately misunderstood?
1. Chapter 1

The merpeople of Black Lake weren't quite as the stories portray merpeople to be. These were ugly, hideous creatures with sickly green skin and wild hair. They had no soul, no feelings and no love. And I was one of them.

We were a small colony of only about 30 at the time. Our ruler, Mercheiftaness Murcus lived in the large house towards the north end of the village while my family lived with the kelp farmers towards the south end. We worked our whole lives to support the other families of selkies. It was all we ever knew. Our days carried out the same way without so much as a sliver of change. We woke, we worked, we ate, and we slept. There isn't much else to do in the lake.

The kelp fields were brutal. There were urchins and poisonous creatures on nearly every leaf and you had to be extremely careful, because if you so much as touched some of those creatures, you'd be dead.

Most of us were scrawny little things, except for my sister, Nara. She ate nearly everything in sight. When we were younger she'd often steal the food right off my plate. I hardly ever got a meal when I was young. I was lucky to survive.

When Nara and I would go to the kelp fields, I normally did most of the work. She'd just sit there and twirl her locks of beautiful soft green hair. Although she was somewhat larger than the others, she was much admired because she had such a pretty face. She could just bat her eyelashes and the men would come flocking.

As for me, I was just a scrawny nothing. I had quite dull features, and not the prettiest face. But my mother used to tell me how strong willed I was. I knew that she was only trying to be nice, but I also knew that this would never get me a husband. I was a disappointment to my family. Especially my father.

When I would come back from the fields, I had to bring the kelp to the Mercheiftaness and hurry home for supper. Missing supper was like missing what humans call "tea time". It was something we did every day and was important to our culture. After supper, I would do my chores around the house such as do the dishes, clean up, and help Nara decide what to wear the following day because she always had to look "absolutely flawless".

The next morning, however, was yet another in which Nara had possible husbands coming to the house. I loved these days because I didn't have to work in the fields. Instead, I would help Nara get ready and set the table for lunch and tidy the house and make myself look somewhat presentable, even though my father said I will never be a presentable bride.

A man came knocking on our door around noon. Sure enough, he had come for Nara. But she rejected him as she did with everyone else and carried on with her day. I always wondered why my mother named her Nara, because it was supposed to mean stability, which she obviously has none. But it didn't matter because I didn't have anything else to do with my day. So I took the day to go off to the village.

The farther north you go, the richer people get. But the more southern you look, the less respect you get. People glare and give each other disgusted looks. But the market is wonderful. There are foods from all over the world and beautiful relics from the world above. There are books with stories of untold worlds and riches. I've always loved the things from above. Whenever I had money left over from my chores or I'd find some money stuck between the cushions of the chairs, I would come here and buy myself something to read or admire. It was one of the few things that could bring me joy.

The market had wonderful findings that day. There were beautiful vases, jewelry boxes, and intricately bound books. I picked up a strange book that looked much stranger than the ones I'd seen before. I brought it to the shop keeper and asked for a price.

She looked awfully puzzled when I handed the book to her. "I've never seen that book in my life. Go on and take it and be on your way."

And so I did


	2. Chapter 2

The book I'd gotten was titled "A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration" by Emeric Switch. It was a thick, brown leather book with gold detailing that was scratched off around the corners. But the pages were all still intact and it was one of the best books in my collection. It talked on and on about how to change things into something they're not. It was simply amazing. I flipped through it a few times and continued back home.

When I returned, Nara was sitting in her little chair, sewing up a new dress which must have been for another "date" with another one of her many admirers. I went to my room and placed my new book on the shelf next to all of the others I had collected through my life. I had everything from Beedle the Bard to some old man named Merlin.

But this book was my new favorite. It talked about wands and magic, as if there truly were such a thing. And it talked about the land and the animals and all the wonderful things.

"If only this magic was real," I muttered to myself, "then I could live up on land as anything I wanted."

I read the book until I fell asleep. When I woke in the morning, my father was already awake, screaming for everyone to wake up and put on our best clothes. I put on my cleanest dress and put on my little shell tiara I made and went to the dining room where my father was. I was the only one ready. Surprisingly, Nara was next. My mother had yet to come out of her room. My father went to go check on her and let out a scream.

At my mother's funeral, Nara went up to the podium to sing a song. Her voice had always been lovely, which was just another thing for people to admire about her. In our culture, having a lovely voice was worth more than having a lovely face. After all, the most important thing to us was song.

I was never the same after my mother died. Whether it was having the withdrawal of having a mother or having your father beat you for nearly everything, I always had something hurting inside of me.

We never did find out why we had to get ready that day. It never mattered. Nara continued flirting and my father stayed locked in his room. I continued to work in the fields. We still had visitors from time to time. All either came for Nara or mom. But one day, we got a telegram that was given to everyone in the kingdom. We were told that there were visitors from the land coming and we were their obstacles in some game they played.

"What barbarians," I scoffed. "We can't just pretend to be threatening and dangerous!"

"Merae, quit your complaining. Just do as it says. After all, it's a direct order from Murcus," Nara said.

I always thought my mother had given me quite a fitting name. It means "unusual" and it's the best word anyone could use to describe me. Because I'm not pretty, and I can't sing as well as the other mermaids. I'm just different.

The day had come for the competitors to pass through and get whatever it was they needed. And so Nara and I hid in the kelp fields, ready to watch the competitors and cause some trouble. Nara slipped away to follow some girl with striking blonde hair.

As I watched, a young boy with dark black hair slipped by. He was strange. He had two long tails, but it seemed out of the ordinary, like those tails were meant to be something else.

The merpeople continued to stalk the competitors while I followed this one. He was rather dumb because he tried to break the game rule and take more than just his item, his strange red-haired creature. Murcus told him only one, but still he freed another. This other creature looked much like the blonde haired one Nara chased not too long ago.

But then the black haired creature lost his fins at the end of his tails and stopped breathing. He looked like the creatures that were unconscious that he was trying to save. He accidentally lost his wooden stick when he was thrashing around. He then got attacked by a swarm of grindylows. I felt bad for the thing and handed his stick back to him. He used it to somehow petrify the grindylows and escape.

I was astonished. It appeared to be the very stick my books called a wand. Could this be? Could magic be real? I swam as quickly as I could to the top of the lake and stuck my head up quietly. There were more and more of these creatures cheering and hugging. They were the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I wanted to let out a sound to let them know I was here, but I soon realized that I couldn't breathe and dunked my head back under.

I swam quickly down to my room and re-read my book. Now that I knew it was all real, I knew that I could be one someday. If I could get my hands on a wand or find the right creature, I could become what the book calls a wizard. I could live on land and escape this horrible world.

But finding a wizard to trust something as hideous as me would prove to be most difficult. So I knew it would take a ton of patience. Every day, I'd stay close to shore, book in hand, in hopes that another wizard would come by.


End file.
